Stocks dip with chipmakers; gold hits record high
U.S. stocks mostly lower
UK shares fall as govt unveils new budget
Gold hits record high in risk-off mood
Bitcoin nears record high
Updates to 3 p.m. ET
By Caroline Valetkevitch
NEW YORK Oct 30 (Reuters) - Global stock indexes edged lower onWednesday as a disappointing forecast from Advanced Micro Devices weighed on chipmakers, while gold prices rose to a record high as uncertainty ahead of next week's U.S. presidential election drove safe-haven demand.
British stocks .FTSE hit their lowest level since August as UK Finance Minister Rachel Reeves said she would raise taxes by 40 billion pounds a year ($52 billion) in her first budget.
Shares of Alphabet GOOGL.O rose more than 3% after the company late Tuesday reportedquarterly revenue that beat estimates.
On the flip side, shares of semiconductor company Advanced Micro Devices AMD.O dropped 9.9%after its revenue forecasts and artificial intelligence chip sales disappointed investors. Other chipmakers also slipped, with Nvidia NVDA.O down 1.3%.
Facebook owner Meta Platforms META.O and Microsoft MSFT.O report earnings later in the day, followed by Apple AAPL.O and Amazon.com AMZN.O on Thursday.
"The market is heavily focused on what these companies are going to deliver, their guidance and any signal that perhaps their purchases of AI-related infrastructure could change," said Quincy Krosby, chief global strategist at LPL Financial in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Stocks are up sharply for the year so far, and Krosby said upbeat results from the megacap names will help to support the overall market.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 0.20 points to 42,233.25, the S&P 500 .SPX fell 7.55 points, or 0.13%, to 5,825.37 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC slid 44.27 points, or 0.24%, to 18,668.48.
MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe .MIWD00000PUS fell 2.20 points, or 0.26%, to 845.88. The STOXX 600 .STOXX index fell 1.25%, while the FTSE 100 dropped 0.7%. Shares ofItalian spirit maker Campari CPRI.MI slumped after missing forecasts.
Gold XAU= rose toan all-time high as uncertainty over the Nov. 5 U.S. presidential election boosted safe-haven demand.
A recent Reuters/Ipsos poll showed Vice President Kamala Harris, a Democrat, leading Republican Donald Trump 44% to 43% among registered voters nationally, within the margin of error. Other opinion polls show tight margins in the seven election battleground states.
Among riskier assets, bitcoin BTC= was down slightly after surging to near its all-time high from March as investors weighed the prospect of a victory by Trump, widely seen as favorable towards crypto.
"Bitcoin has been considered an important barometer for liquidity in the market," Krosby said, adding that its recent gains have been "associated with a Trump victory."
Bitcoin was last down 0.71% at $71,799.00.
The dollar edged down against other major currencies as stronger-than-expected U.S. private payrolls data and the UK budget release set off choppy trading as investors awaited clues about the future policy paths of their respective central banks.
Data showed U.S. private payrolls growth surged in October. The key U.S. jobs report for October is due on Friday.
The U.S. dollar index =USD, which measures the currency against six major rivals, rose to 104.43 earlier in the session but was last down 0.16% at 104.07.
Sterling GBP= weakened 0.33% to $1.2972.
Benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury yields US10YT=RR were little changed.
Investors were also digesting data showing theeuro zone grew faster than expected last quarter. A separate report showed the U.S.economy had maintained steady third-quarter growth.
In the energy market,oil prices rebounded from declines earlier in the week. Data on Wednesday showed U.S. crude and gasoline inventories fell unexpectedly last week.
Brent crude futures LCOc1 settled up $1.43, or 2.01%, at $72.55 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude CLc1 rose $1.4, or 2.08%, to $68.61.
World FX rates YTD http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh
Asian stock markets https://tmsnrt.rs/2zpUAr4
To read Reuters Markets and Finance news https://www.reuters.com/finance/markets
Additional reporting by Tom Wilson in London and Rae Wee in Singapore; Editing by Jacqueline Wong, Christina Fincher, David Evans and Richard Chang
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